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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chip · lean · hand · degree · lash · march · stock · stem

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. hand — help
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. stock — goods
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. chip — to eat
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. march — the month
  13. degree — from a university
  14. stem — to come from
  15. degree — an amount
  16. stock — shares
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. degree — temperature
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. lean — to bend
  21. lean — thin
  22. hand — in cards
  23. chip — for betting
  24. stem — of a plant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com